Freeze public funding to pay off deficit, says Fox

11 Mar 2013

Channel 4 News reports on Liam Fox's speech at the IEA

With just nine days left before the chancellor sets out the budget, Liam Fox has urged the government to freeze public funding for at least three years and use the money to pay off the deficit and introduce tax cuts.

The government has ring-fenced spending on schools, foreign aid and the NHS. But according to Mr Fox, this is unsustainable. Instead, with the estimated £345bn saved, the government should cut taxes, including the scrapping of capital gains tax and tax on pensioners' savings.

"The great socialist coup of the last decade was making wealth an embarrassment," he said. "It is not. Wealth is the prize for aspiration and hard work, and its side-effects are higher tax revenues, more jobs and more investment."